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THE THIRD AIRCRAFT had been delivered and assembled by the time Spectre and Kruger returned from their field trip to Louisiana. Woody and Cowboy had driven to Nellis and picked it up during the night while Tuna and Churchill drove the armored SUV back to their secret base.
When they arrived at the hangar, the team was eager to find out if the plan was going forward. They all gathered under one of the Flankers as Spectre and Kruger carried their bags in.
“How’s Sparky?” Spectre asked Woody. He and Cowboy had stopped by the hospital on the way to the base to check on him after his surgery to relieve the pressure from the hemorrhage.
“He was still sedated in ICU when we went by. His family was there, so we didn’t bug him,” Woody said. “But I saw the flight doc, and he said that Sparky may never fly again. Waivers for stuff like that are really hard to come by.”
“Goddammit,” Spectre hissed. “I shouldn’t have pushed him.”
“So, what’s going on, man? Are we doing this or not?” Woody asked.
“Come with me,” Spectre said.
Spectre motioned for Woody to follow as Kruger stayed behind to update the rest of the team. They walked through the hangar and went to the inner vault to talk in a secure location.
The two walked into the inner vault and Spectre poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting across from Woody at the table in the center of the room. He took a sip from his mug as Woody impatiently waited for answers.
“Well?” Woody asked.
“With Sparky out, it’s just you and me now,” Spectre said before taking another sip. The caffeine was desperately needed. He was still tired with no end in sight. He would have to push through on caffeine and adrenaline if they had any hopes of being ready for the mission in the next few days.
“No shit, brah.”
“Okay, so here’s the deal,” Spectre said. “We’re going to pose as demo pilots for the Russians. The North Koreans are interested in buying the SU-30s and have requested a demo for the top brass.”
“Dude, I don’t look Russian,” Woody protested. His father had been an American fighter pilot and his mother was Vietnamese.
“No, but the Russians often use pilots from other countries in the region to demo their aircraft if they think it’ll help with the sale,” Spectre replied. “And yours is not a speaking role anyway. All we’re going to do is fly.”
“What kind of flying?”
Spectre shrugged. “That’s the hard part. We don’t know, and won’t know until we get there. In the past, they’ve wanted airshow-style demonstrations. Sometimes they’ve asked for demos against their current fleet. And there’s even a chance Kim Jong-Un will want a ride. That’s why we’re training for everything.”
“But Kruger and Cowboy and those other guys are not WSOs. What are they going for?” Woody asked.
“They’re only there for the ground mission,” Spectre said.
“Which is...”
“To kill Choe Il-Sung.”
“An assassination mission? In North Korea?”
“Relax. They have a plan for the specifics that even I’m not privy to. All I know is that we fly them in, help them gain access to this asshole, and fly them out.”
“Fly them out on a flight plan or under hostile fire?”
“Could be either,” Spectre said. “That’s why we’re training for everything.”
“Great, so I need to learn how to SAM weave in this jet too?”
“It’s not ideal,” Spectre admitted.
“None of this is ideal. Are you sure we’re the best option the U.S. military can come up with, dude?”
“Believe me, I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t absolutely positive that this is it,” Spectre said. “We’re what stands between a chance at peace and World War III.”
“Great,” Woody said.
“You good?” Spectre asked.
“I’m good,” Woody replied. “I just hope you know what you’ve gotten us into.”
“Just fly the plane like you’ve been doing and we’ll be fine. Today, we’ll go out and work on a few more perch setups and then start doing high aspect BFM.”
“Are you sure you can handle me? The last guy that tried ended up in the hospital,” Woody said with a grin.
“I’ll manage,” Spectre replied.
“Hey, so, quick question – how long are we going to actually be in country?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, I saw on the news that they’re moving ahead with denuclearization and all of that. If that falls apart, will we be there long enough for them to turn on us?”
“Since we’re going with a Russian envoy, I doubt it. They have nothing to do with this. I’m hoping just a few hours. Maybe an overnight at most.”
“Russian envoy?”
“Kruger’s girlfriend. She’s posing as an executive for the guy we got the jets from at the Sukhoi factory. They’re working the ground mission with Kruger. That’s seriously all I know. They’ve kept it pretty compartmentalized.”
“Why?”
“In case we get captured.”
Woody’s eyes widened. “Captured? You think that’s a real risk?”
“Anything could happen at this point,” Spectre said with a shrug. “But if we train well and do our part, I don’t think there will be any problems. They’re all professionals.”
“With the way this mission has gone so far, I’m not so sure about that.”